Morgan Kraft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Morgan Kraft (ASCAP) is a composer and band leader currently based in Asheville, North Carolina, where he performs and records with the Morgan Kraft Band and is a producer/engineer for Silvermine Studios Marshall, North Carolina. Currently, Kraft performs exclusively on a fretless guitar.
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[edit] Background
Morgan Kraft is a classically-trained composer who found his primary musical voice through the fretless guitar, playing a heavy blues-infused rock-n-roll. He was born in Seattle, WA in 1972. After leaving his childhood home of Laramie, WY, Morgan Kraft spent 1992-1997 studying composition under Sherwood Shaffer at the North Carolina School of the Arts. He also studied conducting with Serge Zehnacker, piano with Douglas Buys and theory with Kenneth Frazelle. During his final years of schooling, Kraft began rejecting the notion of mandatory temperament or meter, while becoming increasing obsessed with strictly adhering to form and structure. This, along with hearing a recording of fretless guitar at school by experimental composer Michael Thomas Jackson, was the primary reason for Kraft removing the frets on his guitar. While still an active supporter of modern music, his current recordings don't reflect these avant-garde tendencies, instead he seems to have opted for a traditional approach to popular music.
[edit] Recording and performance career
Since departing music conservatory in 1997, Kraft has forged a unique yet very accessible musical style. His body of work contains primarily pop songs, with notable exceptions being an electronic music piece "Alone" featuring text by Edgar Allan Poe and the voice of New York Metropolitan Opera Soprano Jennifer Welsch, a duet for Oboe and Viola recorded by Coa Schwab and Richard O'Neil (who records and performs with John Zorn) and an orchestra work commissioned by the North Carolina Chamber Symphony. He has worked with noted trumpet player Bryan Lipps (who has performed with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and as a member of the Thelonious Monk Big Band) and toured as a bassist with honky-tonk legend Greg Garing. In 2006 he performed a weekly residency at Bar 9 in NYC's vintage Hell's Kitchen district. His recording credits include production and engineering for several albums, the most notable being the Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble's "Three Pieces". He was featured on the Fretless Guitar compilation CD "Village of the Unfretted" and released his first full-length CD "Don't Fade Away" November 7, 2006 on Microearth Records.
[edit] Instuments
- Bolin Guitars. Custom made fretless guitar by John Bolin of Boise, Idaho.
- Fender Stratocaster. Converted by Ed Picard of Northampton, Massachusetts.
[edit] Backing musicians
- Dave Durst - drum kit (2006)
- Steve Sanderson - bass (2006)
- Lex Samu - trumpet (1995, 2006)
- Aaron Bachelder - drum kit (2002-2004)
- Luke Mueller - drum kit (2004-2005)
- Ryan Crowley - guitar, songwriter (2002-2006)
[edit] Discography
- Morgan Kraft - Don't Fade Away released on Microearth Records, 2006
- Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble - Three Pieces released on Microearth Records, 2005
- Various Artists - Village of the Unfretted released on Unfretted Records UK, 2005
